THE NERD REPORT
Nerds Around Town: Cancer sucks, mountain bikes and...cricket?
May 13, 2019, 6:22 am
ART BY JESUS RODRIGUEZ
Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports and Wrestling. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
Hey Nerds!
It's once again the most important day of the week, it is Monday! So let's set this week up for success and make sure that we crush this week!
GOOD DEED OF THE DAY
This week, we're going to scale it back a little bit and get personal again. One of my buddies, a guy I've had many crazy drinking adventures with is having a benefit thrown for him to help him pay for dealing with cancer. Exit 73 will be hosting a BBQ benefit event this Sunday May 19th, starting at noon. There will be live music, you'll be able to buy plates of food and there will be an auction, all of this being done to benefit Michael Almendarez and help him deal with his battle with cancer. Guy is married with three daughters, it's a real issue to be sick these days and it's just unfortunate. #NerdsUnite
COMICPALOOZA WAS THIS WEEKEND!
Oh man, it was an absolutely amazing weekend. I hosted three panels with my Nerd Thug Radio team, we had an absolute blast. I interviewed Kim Phan, Director of Global eSports for Blizzard, because ESPN was there hosting the first ever College eSports Championships which I will write more in depth about elsewhere. Emilia Clarke was awesome, she stayed late everyday so everyone could get their pictures in and talk to her and have the rewarding fun fan moment that people hope to experience when they pay for those extra things. Overall it was an amazing experience and even though I work these events I also am still a massive nerd and enjoy the hell out of these things and have my fun fanboy moments. I hope I don't live long enough for this to ever get boring.
TWO WHEELS NOT TWO FEET!
While I was walking what had to have been literally 40 plus miles over this three day weekend, the event is all three floors from end to end of the convention center, I started thinking how awesome it would be to bike around on the convention floor. By day two this joking became an intense desire to not be walking what seemed to be a million steps and I googled best mountain bikes under $500, not realizing how many variations and kinds of bikes exists these days. I didn't realize there was more than like one or two bike styles. When did this happen? When was the revolution on bike variations and what was I doing instead that week? Anyway, see if you can name more than three types of mountain bikes, seriously, try it.
SIGH, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M EVEN TYPING THIS...
Listeners of Nerd Thug Radio have probably heard my co-host Joey Savage mention once or twice that due to him watching a Netflix documentary one night when he couldn't sleep, he is now a cricket fan. He's been yelling out nonsense like "sixer!" sporadically over the last eight weeks and I have no clue what's going on honestly. His team of choice is the Mumbai Indians and apparently they were in the Indian Premier League finals, which was probably important to all of sports betting India but not so much to me, they did win by 1 though, so that's cool. Sometimes I think it wouldn't surprise me to find out he was so low for a gambling fix that he wasn't searching India horse racing sites for a fix like an addict. Honestly he yells "sixer!" at the weirdest times…
NOT THAT YOU ASKED
Ok last time I'm going to mention this honestly, tomorrow we move on to new business but even the massive, awful rains couldn't keep people away from Comicpalooza. Overall I'm super proud of our city, Houston represented itself well, the floor had a great positive vibe, the stars were friendly, the events were great there was a ton of stuff to do. For those who don't know the city of Houston has been involved in the convention for the past few years and took it over completely last year and honestly they didn't do the best job running it. They more than made up for it this year, they did a good job with the kinds of guests they brought and the kind of vendors they brought it in. It can be a really tricky thing when a convention doesn't go right, I've worked events where things have been an issue, ask me in person, I have some stories, but thankfully this one went great.
I'm going to jump out and wish you guys a great Monday and remind everyone to be kind to each other and try a little harder to have a great day! I'm coming back Tuesday and we'll be bringing more good times your way. Feel free to check out my digital short story The Wilson House or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help fight cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio or support our Patreon Page. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.
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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans reveals what he values most at scouting combine
Feb 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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